Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were noted.

None declared.

The Chairman announced details of the arrangements in case of fire or other events that might require the meeting room or building’s evacuation.

Presentation by Mary Pattinson, Head of Learning and Achievement.

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND CHANGES ARISING FROM THE CHILDREN AND FAMILY BILL 2013

       The Committee were asked to note the changes as follows:

•              Arisen out of the Green Paper Support and  Aspiration which was published in March 2011

•                              Creating a more family friendly SEND process

•              Draws together the support a child requires across education, health and care (EHC)

•              Statements of Special Educational Need replaced by EHC plan

•              Law early next year (February/March 2014)

•              Implementation in September 2014

•              Local Authorities across the country have received a small amount of funding as pathfinders for the new approach.

•              Havering is working with Bexley and Bromley who are London Pathfinder Champions.

Officers were advised that the Statement of Educational Needs will be replaced by a new plan for every child who has special needs up to the age of 25 years if they remain in education. A SEND Project team with representatives from education, children’s, adults and parents health services had been set up with working groups to cover all major changes. In addition there would be a Parents/Carers Forum and an advocacy group gathering the views of children and young people.

There were four major areas of change and development:

The Local Offer

•              Requirement to publish a local offer of services for children with SEND on its website

•              To show parents how services can be accessed and include health, education, social care, schools and the voluntary sector.

•              Over 50 parents have been consulted about how the offer should look and how they would wish to access it.

•              Working groups producing content

•              Model site now up and running

•              Discussion about how to incorporate into other Council websites. 

•              Additionally Local Authorities will have to introduce a system of mediation

Education Health and Care Plans from 0-25

•              Local Authorities must ensure the integration of services for education, health and social care for children and young people with SEND up to the age of 25

•              Single assessment procedure (involving parents and children) so that families do not have to repeat their story a number of times

•              Work has begun with a view to creating a simpler system with a single point of access if possible

•              A pilot programme will start with the very youngest children in December

Joint Commissioning

•              Clause 26 of the Draft Bill says there must be joint commissioning arrangements between education, health and social care

•              Must ensure that there are resources are provided to assess children and then provide for their needs.

•              Formal mechanism for resolving complaints and difficulties between the agencies.

Discussions have begun with colleagues in the CCG and a working group has been set up

Personal Budgets

•              Clause 26 of the Draft Bill says there must be joint commissioning arrangements between education, health and social care

•               Must ensure that there are resources are provided to assess children and then provide for their needs.

•              Formal mechanism  ...  view the full minutes text for item 73.

The Committee received a presentation of the report by Daren Mulley and Deborah Rednapp. The first part of the report was council funded for the Children’s Trust and provided data collated by the Office of National Statistics for the years 2010 and 2011.

Teenagers Sexual Health

Officers acknowledged that it was an absolute priority of the council to reduce teenage pregnancy in Havering, however, it was disappointing that the borough continued to experience a relatively higher rate of fewer than 16 conceptions although overall there had been a steady reduction in the rate and number of teenage conceptions. It was suggested that the increase could be due to young people coming into Havering from outside areas.  

Committee members expressed their concerns about the abortion rate at 7.7% per 1000 and that the conception rate per 1000 of 7.4% was disappointing. Officers advised that Havering had a very high school attainment rate which was linked to high terminations, and that within the live birth statistics, the actual number of teenage mothers was low. The Committee were also advised that key areas in the borough were being targeted by School Nurses.

Officers reassured the Committee that all options were discussed and every support given to teenage mums whether they chose to terminate or proceed with the pregnancy.

A Committee member expressed concern about one of the survey findings where one in six stated that they knew of someone who had been sexually exploited. Officers advised that there were processes in all schools where young people could safely report about themselves or others being exploited. In addition, the authority was planning a survey on the matter for 2014 and that the police were also involved in discussions in schools. It was noted that an LSCB sub group was carrying out work on the subject and the Chairman requested that their findings be submitted to the Committee on completion. Further concern was raised with regards to the lack of specialist services in the UK to provide support to sexually exploited children.

Officers advised that recommendations were being formulated and would be circulated to the Committee once they had been presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board in the New Year.  The Chairman also requested sight of the 2012 data when it became available.

Substance Misuse

The Committee was advised that the second part of the report provided an insight into how services was performing as well as identifying trends/patterns so that services could be reprioritised if necessary.

The report was summarised as follows:

·                     Across England in 2012, the prevalence of illegal drug use was at its lowest since 2001 and alcohol use also continues a downward trend since 2001.

·                     In Havering, the majority of teenagers have never tried a drug. In contrast, the majority of teenagers have tried alcohol.

·                     In Havering, almost half of all teenagers have not tried smoking. Those who have, tried smoking under the age of 16.

·                     60% teenagers in Havering have been offered a drug in the last 12  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74.

To note that the attached Cabinet Report from the Council’s Continuous Improvement Model is due for review subject to agreement by the Committee.

It was noted that the 2013 report on Commissioning School Places was due to go before Cabinet on 20 November 2013. The Committee agreed to review the report at the appropriate time in the New Year.

The Committee noted the Scoping Document for the Children’s Health Topic Group.

An addition meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be held on 5 December 2013 to train and prepare members on the Self Evaluation Form relating to OFSTED inspections.

Corbets Tey School

       Committee members received a verbal update on safeguarding issues at Corbets Tey School from the Director of Children’s Services.  It was agreed that the original media briefing document provided to Councillors would be circulated to the Committee.

Transport to Dycourts School

Officers were asked to respond to a complaint received by a Committee member at the September OSC meeting on transport difficulties to and from Dycourts School.

Officers advised that they had been extremely concerned to hear of the transport difficulties.  One of the processes had been to review the routes, cluster points and taxi journeys, however, it was decided not to change the cluster points and encourage parents to bring the children to the cluster points.  Officers concluded that providing an additional bus would not solve the problem but were looking at the introduction of additional forms of travel in time for January 2014.  It was regretted that the number of children in wheelchairs was adding to travel time and complicating the journeys. Dycourts had five or six coaches and there were no further funds to provide another. 

Committee members expressed their disappointment that this was the second occasion the matter had been brought to the Committee and that children were still arriving late for school.  The Committee also voiced concerns about users having difficulty in contacting colleagues in the Schools and Learning department.

In summary, the Committee requested that there should be a process whereby the driver reports journey times of longer than one hour. The Chairman asked that the officer report back to the Committee with a briefing on what action was being taken.